The gunman who killed two people at the Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon, on Sunday night has been identified by authorities as Ethan Blair Miller. The 20-year-old was later found dead at the scene.
Shortly after 7pm local time on Sunday, Miller entered Forum Shopping Center’s parking lot and started firing rounds from an AR-15-style rifle. He then entered the Safeway grocery store and fatally shot two people. He later died from self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Who was Ethan Blair Miller?
Ethan Blair Miller was a 20-year-old who reportedly stayed in an apartment complex behind the shopping center.
Police spokeswoman Sheila Miller said Ethan did not have a criminal history but he had posted writings online about wanting to carry out a school shooting. He was reportedly influenced by Columbine High School massacre. He could not wait any longer, which is how he ended up at the shopping centre.
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His social media accounts had videos and photos of him with guns. He also had a YouTube channel with multiple videos, some of which showed him firing guns. Police were investigating how Ethan Miller acquired the weapons.
The 20-year-old left a journal railing against COVID restrictions by the government. He blamed isolation and loneliness for the shooting.
“I am responsible for this, but I was turned into a monster. I created this Tragedy. But Society created Me,” the wrote in a journal entry on Wattpad, Heavy.com reported.
Another post read, “My humanity is gone. I have no emotions whatsoever.”
A week before the Safeway shooting, Miller ranted about Mountain View school in one of his posts.
“No good memories about that school or the staff within it,” he wrote in the journal, Heavy.com reported.
The page has been deleted by authorities.